Returning to the office isn't as productive as one would think

We're back from vacation and I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. It didn't help that I caught a bad headcold towards the end of the trip; and now that I write that, I wonder if there's such a thing as a good headcold.

Anyways, my work laptop totally bombed on the last day of work before my vacation, so I was told that a new laptop and new PC would both be ordered for me as replacements. Silly me. All of that talk left me with the impression that these purchases would be made while I was gone and that within the 3 weeks of vacation that I was on, at least one of the machines would actually be in the building. I didn't really expect that it would be ready for my immediate use, but had hoped that by it being here, the IT staff would have something to work with to load software and stuff onto it.

Yep, silly me. Until last week, neither had been ordered.

And to add insult to injury: on that tragic last day of work, we moved my working files that had been created or edited since the last back-up onto a "dummy", temporary laptop. This laptop is one of the office's floaters that are available when one wants to attend training, has a presentation to give, or wants to run one of the projectors in our meeting rooms. These floaters aren't made for heavy-duty computing and have only basic software installed.

While I was away, the assumption was made that I would use the temp laptop until the real deals are ready. That's all well and good -- as long as the actual software I need to do my job and the rest of my files are moved over!

But, I wasn't here to point that out. Nor did I feel the need while away to call and check up on things. So, yesterday was a little bit of a "gimme" day anyways as I waded through my e-mail, messages, and actual mail. (Thankfully, I can still get to my e-mail thru a web application!)

Once everyone was on the same page with what was needed for files & software, there wasn't much of anything left to do, so I left for a long lunch with Sylvain, a quick afternoon cat-nap, then our dentist appointment. This had me thinking that I could hit the ground running this morning.

But, no.

I arrived at 6:30 to find a note that the laptop was taken from my desk since there still needed some work done on it. This should take only "20-30 minutes", but the person who has it doesn't usually arrive until 8:30 or 9-ish....

Now, I know that some of you are current or former IT specialists and that you might find my venting somewhat offensive. Yes, I know that the 3 folks who make up the IT staff here aren't here to support just me. I'm one of 45 users....But, really, I have a very hard time having faith when I feel like nothing happens until I start bitching.

So, what to do for now? Well, I've been meaning to do some organizing and picking up around my office....

And once that's done? If you see a second blog update....

UPDATE: I'm now told that the "20-30" minutes have morphed into "2-3" more hours. Well, the tidying up is done, so I'm working through the vacation journal to pick-up where I left off....ANYONE OUT THERE KNITTING? Send me a text & I'll likely join you....